The Smurfs: Racist, Fascist Collectivists?
There seems to be something a bit strange going on when it comes to cartoons and comic books. Alot of these works of art, which were considered childish “fluff” at best and brain rotting at worst by many, are now being intellectually analyzed and looked at with a serious eye that betrays the sneering they were given in the past. With this is some really interesting analysis that casts stuff like The Smurfs in a light that couldn’t have been that predictable.
Take this readout by a French sociologist, who sees many of the toughest elements of German Nazism and Soviet Stalinism in the world of The Smurfs:
Sacre bleu! The Smurfs may not be as innocent as they look.The tribe of little blue creatures who live peacefully among the mushrooms are “steeped in Stalinism and Nazism,” according to a French sociologist.
“Collective work always focuses on self-sufficiency for food and energy,” Antoine Buéno states in Le Petit Livre Bleu (The Little Blue Book). “The Smurfs do not have private property; their leader is Papa Smurf who shows very authoritarian and paternalistic characteristics.”
Buéno also makes the connection that the little blue men’s biggest enemy, the magician Gargamel, seems to have a Jewish background — citing similarities to the anti-Semitic images of the World War II era.
The French writer also claims that the Smurfs do not just resemble Nazis, but sexist Nazis to boot! Smurfette—traditionally the only woman living in the Smurf’s village — allegedly meets the Aryan ideal of beauty with her blonde hair and refined features.
What makes this article the best is the excerpted panel that Disinfo attaches to it. Classic: